Prioritise high-value produce to turn the tide tribuneindia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tribuneindia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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A Amarender Reddy
INDIA’s foodgrain production is estimated to achieve a new record of 305.43 million tonnes in the crop year 2020-21 on the basis of better output of rice and wheat. The export of agricultural and allied products grew 17.34 per cent to $41.25 billion. The procurement of paddy and wheat touched an all-time high of 129.8 million tonnes.
However, in spite of this rosy picture, farmers’ incomes are not increasing as expected and there is widespread distress. Although MSP is announced for 23 commodities, procurement is negligible for most crops, except paddy and wheat. Pulses’ procurement was just 9.8 lakh tonnes in 2020-21, which is neither sufficient to support prices above MSP for farmers nor adequate to distribute through the Public Distribution System (PDS) for the poorest of the poor. The procurement of oilseeds such as groundnut and sunflower is negligible. A free market alone does not lead to a higher farm income. Many a time, it will expose small a
Resilient grain needs a fillip to gain ground tribuneindia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tribuneindia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.